US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

                                  TITLE  42
                       IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE -- WATER
                            RIGHTS AND RECLAMATION
                                  CHAPTER 39
                      WASTE DISPOSAL AND INJECTION WELLS
    42-3902.  DEFINITIONS. Whenever used in this chapter:
    (1)  "Aquifer" means any geologic formation that will yield water to a
well in sufficient quantities to make production of water from the formation
feasible for beneficial use, except when the water in such formation results
solely from injection through a waste disposal and injection well.
    (2)  "Director" means the director of the department of water resources.
    (3)  "Drinking water source" means an aquifer which contains water having
less than 10,000 mg/l total dissolved solids and has not been exempted from
this designation by the director of the department of water resources.
    (4)  "Fluid" means any material or substance which flows or moves whether
in a semisolid, liquid, sludge, gaseous or any other form or state.
    (5)  "Formation" means a body of consolidated or unconsolidated rock
characterized by a degree of lithologic homogeneity which is mappable at the
earth's surface or traceable in the subsurface.
    (6)  "Hazardous waste" means any fluid or combination of fluids, excluding
radioactive wastes, which because of quantity, concentration or
characteristics (physical, chemical or biological) may:
    (a)  Cause or significantly contribute to an increase in deaths or an
    increase in serious, irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness; or
    (b)  Pose a substantial threat to human health or to the environment if
    improperly treated, stored, disposed of, or managed. Such wastes include,
    but are not limited to, materials which are toxic, corrosive, ignitable,
    or reactive, or materials which may have mutagenic, teratogenic, or
    carcinogenic properties, but do not include solid or dissolved material in
    domestic sewage or solid or dissolved material in irrigation return flows.
    (7)  "Injection" means the subsurface emplacement of fluids.
    (8)  "Injection well" means any excavation or artificial opening into the
ground which meets the following three (3) criteria:
    (a)  It is a bored, drilled or dug hole, or is a driven mine shaft or a
    driven well point; and
    (b)  It is deeper than its largest straight-line surface dimension; and
    (c)  It is used for or intended to be used for injection.
    (9)  "Irrigation waste water" means surplus water diverted for irrigation
but not applied to crops or runoff of surplus water from the cropland as a
result of irrigation.
    (10) "Licensed driller" means any person holding a valid license to drill
water wells in Idaho as provided and defined in section 42-238, Idaho Code.
    (11) "Operate" means to allow fluids to enter an injection well by action
or by inaction of the operator.
    (12) "Operator" means any individual, group of individuals, partnership,
company, corporation, municipality, county, state agency, taxing district or
federal agency who operates or proposes to operate any injection well.
    (13) "Owner" means any individual, group of individuals, partnership,
company, corporation, municipality, county, state agency, taxing district, or
federal agency owning land on which any injection well exists or is proposed
to be constructed.
    (14) "Radioactive material" means any material, solid, liquid or gas which
emits radiation spontaneously.
    (15) "Radioactive waste" means any fluid which contains radioactive
material in concentrations which exceed those established for discharges to
water in an unrestricted area by the board of environmental quality under the
provisions of chapter 30, title 39, Idaho Code.
    (16) "Shallow injection well" means an injection well which is less than
or equal to eighteen (18) feet in vertical depth below land surface.
    (17) "Sanitary waste" means any fluid generated through domestic
activities, such as food preparation, cleaning and personal hygiene.
    (18) "Surface runoff water" means runoff water from the natural ground
surface and cropland. Runoff from urbanized areas, such as streets, parking
lots, airports, and runoff from animal feedlots, agricultural processing
facilities and similar facilities are not included within the scope of this
term.
    (19) "Waste disposal and injection well" means an injection well which is
more than eighteen (18) feet in vertical depth below land surface.